


Tantamount

by soozu



Category: Lego Ninjago, The LEGO Ninjago Movie (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cole actually suffers injuries from his fall, Comedy, Crossover, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Koko knows Lloyd's the Green Ninja, Lloyd doesn't reveal his identity to the public in the movie, Non-Graphic Violence, Spoilers, for both fandoms, ninjago season 10 spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2019-11-28 07:46:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18205565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soozu/pseuds/soozu
Summary: In Ninjago, the Tornado of Creation has finally finished off the invading Oni by banishing them back to their realm. There's a reason to celebrate, but the main heroes are nowhere to be found.In another Ninjago, peace has already been restored after the Secret Ninja Force "defeated" Lord Garmadon. If it isn't for the golden rift in the sky, the ninja would've had such a nice day off. Instead, they're faced with reflections of an alternative universe in which they all have to carry heavy fates on their shoulders."Ah, shit. I'm still the shortest one out of the entire team, ain't I?" - Jay Walker.





	1. Fire and the Flood

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, hello! I'm still working on Ghost!Cole AU, but this idea popped up in my head and I couldn't help but write it down into a fic. 
> 
> This is my first time trying to write a large scale crossover fanfic. The scope at least will be a lot shorter than Ghost!Cole AU, but I'm still gonna make this as enjoyable as possible. I hope you all will have a great time reading this, because I had great fun writing this!

The Tornado of Creation was a spark of the moment idea, suggested by Lloyd while they were fighting to protect their temple from the invasion of the Oni. It was crazy, as they hadn’t done it since Lloyd was still swimming in his Green Ninja gear, but it was their last ditch effort to push back. With Master Wu and Garmadon by their side, they could make it. It was either that or death, so they tried, and succeeded. 

Only that, it worked a little too well.

As the Tornado of Creation expanded and engulfed all of Ninjago, effectively banishing the Oni back to their own realm, something else happened. You see, when the Tornado of Creation was made for the very first time, it was amongst the core ninja group: Cole, Kai, Zane, and Jay. As it stood now, spinning powerfully under the combined power of not only them, but Nya, Lloyd, Wu, and Garmadon, the Tornado became overloaded with energy. As the rift that was used to banish the Oni closed, a new one opened.

With a  _ BANG _ .

 

* * *

 

The sun is going low in Ninjago City, marking the slow transition towards evening with ripples of gold and orange in the waves of the city’s coast line. As fall turns towards winter, night time comes earlier every day. It’s been rather peaceful, lately, Nya notes as she sits at the edge of the dock by their secret ninja base. With Garmadon technically “arrested” by the Secret Ninja Force, the city has a chance to breath after years of constant chaos. Now, the ex-villain should be with Lloyd and Koko, cleaning up his evil lair. Nya swoons a little at the thought of Koko. She was plenty surprised that Lloyd’s mom turned out to be  _ the _ Lady Iron Dragon, but after spending more time with her, she can see the hidden grace and strength underneath her motherly attitude. 

Such beauty, such power, Nya sighs, trying to mask her smile by resting her cheek on one hand. She wonders if she will ever be as great as her.

“If one has time to sit and think, one has time to  _ do _ .” A voice interrupts her train of thought, startling a yelp out of her.

“Wha- Huh- Master Wu!” She turns around, blinking wildly at the sudden appearance of her teacher. The old man only cocks his head and stares at her as she stumbles into a standing position. Embarrassed that she’s still caught off guard even though she’s supposed to be a ninja, she can only grin back at him, folding her hands in front of herself. “I thought you’re still training Zane.”

“Zane is doing quite fine by his own,” Wu says, eyes crinkling with humor as he gestures towards the nindroid in question. About a dozen feet away from her, Zane, clad in his training gi, is gleefully firing blasts of ice against the oncoming waves. It’s a hopeless effort, trying to freeze a wave with his ice as they will quickly break and melt off. The training is paying off however, as each time he pushes, a larger area of the waves would freeze, turning icy white before melting rapidly into clear blue.

“Wow, look at him go,” Nya laughs, endeared by her friend’s unnervingly cheerful reactions. 

“Yes, he’s making quite a lot of progress. You, however, are distracted,” Wu turns to her, his tone serious, “I’m here to help you train to control your newly acquired powers. It takes great patience and skills to only move one tide.”

“But I can already manipulate water!” Nya frowns, watching the waves lap at the edge of the shore, “I can push all the tides back right now if I want. Why just one?”

“Because, my student,” Wu turns towards the sea as well, “Raw power can only get you so far. If you don’t sharpen your skills, you cannot call yourself the Master of Water. You can turn the tide, but if you want to simply water a plant, would you flood the garden?”

“No, I guess, but-” Nya stammers, twisting her hands together in frustration.

“Nya,” Wu’s voice turns gentle, “You have great courage and drive, but it is time to let the storm in you calm.”

“I-I understand,” Nya answers, but it’s clear she’s still not getting it. There’s a twist to her lips and a furrow in her brows, but Wu seems to ignore it as he gazes upwards where the sky is turning orange and pink. She sighs and allows herself to go quiet, following his gaze to watch the sun as it slowly dips into the horizon. The roar of the waves drowns out the noise of the city, and even though she can still hear Zane marveling at his own powers in the background, for a moment she feels like she is close to grasping what her master truly means. 

Then, the sky rips apart.

It’s all too sudden. One moment, her gaze drifts from the horizon to the night sky, and the next thing she knows, there’s a thundering  _ bang  _ and before her very eyes a rift appears. She hears master Wu take in a sharp breath behind her, but all she can see is gold. Golden is the rift as it spins and spins, spitting lightning and sparks. The ocean churns violently as waves fight amongst themselves, seemingly drawn towards the hole in the sky. Likewise, clouds are warped around the golden rift, and the wind whips into her face and almost take off master Wu’s hat.

With a final, earth shattering crack, the rift spits out three lines of light, one towards Ninjago, one towards the volcanic island across from the shores, and one towards the ocean, dangerously close to where she stands. As soon as the lights are fired, the rift closes, sucking itself back into nothingness. The sky clears and the ocean calms. She lets out a breath she’s been holding. The light that’s heading towards the ocean is picking up its pace, and there’s a whistling noise that comes with it.

But the closer it gets, the more it sounds less like whistling, and more like screaming.

“Nya, move.” Master Wu is suddenly next to her, his hand warm and tight on her shoulder.

“What?” She blinks.

“Nya,  _ move _ .” Master Wu points his cane towards the speeding light, and from the tip of his cane her vision focuses and she can see. The light is not light at all, but two human beings, still sparking gold from what must be leftover rift energy, hurling towards the ocean at neck breaking speed. If they land, the impact will kill them. 

Before she can even think, she thrusts her hands towards the ocean and clenches her fist tight, as if she’s tugging on the force behind those waves. The water stirs, but it’s not enough. She clicks her tongue and pulls with all her might, raising her fists into the air. Her arms strain as if she’s lifting the mass of the sea itself, and finally, finally the water listens. A sphere of purely water rises up, just enough to hold the falling people’s impact without hurting them. As they come closer, she forces herself to keep it hovering upward, hoping to catch their fall. Her head feels numb and her ears ring, but all she knows is that she has to save them. She has to prove that she deserves her title as Master of Water.

They land into her water bubble with a loud splash, but her focus keeps the sphere from falling apart under their combined forces. With an exhale, she slowly pulls them towards the dock where she and her master is standing. There’re muffled voices talking behind her and she has half a mind to deduce that master Wu is explaining to Zane what’s going on. However, as the figures draw near, she finds herself confused and horrified at what she sees.

“Kai? Cole?” She asks aloud, silencing the conversation in the background. With the last of her strength, she tugs them out of the water and sends them tumbling onto the wooden panels of the dock. They’re definitely her big brother and her best friend, but at the same time, something is off. 

She ignores that thought as she runs up to them, master Wu and Zane on her heels. Kai is curled over Cole’s body, too busy throwing up sea water to really notice them. Cole on the other hand is underneath Kai’s protective grip, but he seems dazed, his hand shakily wiping off the stinging salt water from his face.

“Kai? Cole? What happened?” Nya asks, but recoils immediately. Something in her guts is screaming aloud.  _ Not hers _ , it shrieks,  _ they’re not hers _ . They’re not from here,  _ they’re not hers _ .

One thing that stands out right away to her is that they are far older than her brother and friend. They seem to be at least in their late teens or early twenties. They’re also wearing different gis with golden dragons decorating the fabric, and she blinks rapidly when she notices Not-Cole wearing sleeves. She doesn’t think she’s ever seen Cole wear sleeves before. This Cole, on the other hand, not only has his body covered fully, but his hair is undone, matted and wet against his forehead as he struggles to breath. There’s a faint scar on the left of his forehead, cutting down in jagged edges to his brow line. His eyes are closed, she realizes. She wonders if he’s okay.

But out of all of these, the biggest confirmation that they’re truly not hers, and not from the future, is when Kai lifts his head up and turns towards her, finally seeing her for the first time since they landed. Call it siblings instinct, but she knows immediately he is not her Kai. Something about the shape of his face is off, and his hair is cut just a tad shorter. The biggest factor, though, are his eyes. Her Kai’s eyes are warm brown and almond shaped. His eyes are closer to amber in color and are upturned. He seems confused and terrified, and she has the feeling he’s not truly seeing her.

“Oh my,” Zane’s robotic voice pierces through the fading ringing of her ears, “This just happened.”

“Something just happened, indeed,” Master Wu agrees, walking up to kneel down besides her. She sees his eyebrows draw up in a flash of recognition and then down when confusion sets in. He slowly reaches out a hand to Not-Kai and touches him briefly on his shoulder. “Young man, can you tell us who you are and why you and your friend here look so much like people we know?”

Not-Kai jumps under his touch and curls his arms tighter around Not-Cole’s torso. “O-Oni!” He barks at them, teeth baring out like a wild dog, “Your shape shifting power has failed you! If you think you can trick me by disguising poorly as my teacher and friends, you’ve thought wrong!”

“Oni?” Nya turns to Wu uncomprehendingly, “What? I’m not an oni? What even is an oni?”

“An oni is a kind of supernatural demon, devil, troll, or ogre in myths. They are typically portrayed as hulking figures with one or more horns growing out of their heads,” Zane recites, clearly browsing through the internet for the definition, “You should really learn your mythology, Nya. Tsk, tsk.”

“S-Stay back!” Not-Kai warns them, trying to pull himself and Not-Cole away from their group. His leg hits the edge of the dock and he glances towards the sea, blanches, and turns back to them. The fear displayed on his face is raw, and Nya feels the uneasiness in her heart turns to aching sympathy. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Nya raises her hands up in a placating manner, “We’re not here to hurt you.”

“I’ve seen your tricks before, oni!” Not-Kai replies, “But you’ve chosen the wrong ninja to pick a fight with.” With that, he raises one of his fists, and, oh, Great Elemental Powers, it catches on fire. Nya feels a little weak in her knees.

“Enough!” Master Wu snaps. The fire that’s trailing up Not-Kai’s arm putters out and he blinks owlishly at Wu.

“Wuh-?” 

“You are probably from a different world,” Master Wu says, the tenseness in his tone reduced by just a tad, “Here, our world is connected to many others. Only master builders can have access to the doors to each worlds, though. You must’ve triggered a portal to open and drop you here.”

“Worlds?” Not-Kai splutters, “We don’t have worlds. We have  _ realms _ , and the only way to access the realms is either using the Traveler’s Tea, but Mystake’s either missing or dead, or we use the Realm Crystal, but it’s already destroyed… Unless…” He trails off before gasping, “The Tornado of Creation!”

“What is the Tornado of Creation?” Zane speaks up, raising his arm like a dutiful student. Not-Kai just shakes his head and waves him off.

“None of your business. I need to find my team,” Not-Kai says, struggling to stand up before falling back on his knees.

Now that he’s not acting as hostile, Nya finally notice that the red of his gi is stained with darker splotches of red. There are rips on the fabric, and even though the water has washed away most of the blood, she can still see streamlined cuts across his skin. His arms and legs are littered with those, and there’s one on his cheek that’s started to bleed again. Who knows what sort of injuries he sustains under those clothes, either.

“No, you’re not leaving here without treating those injuries,” Master Wu taps his cane against the platform, “And if you are a ninja, you should know not to leave an injured friend behind.”

Not-Kai looks ready to protest, but at the mention of his friend, he quickly turns his attention to Not-Cole. He pats his cheeks once, twice, before patting his arms.

“Hey, Cole, buddy, you gotta wake up,” Not-Kai says, his voice shaking slightly, “I think we’re in a different world, dude. Again, I know, but I need you to stay with me, alright, buddy?”

Not-Cole is unresponsive. Nya knows he’s not drowning, at least. He hasn’t ingested any water and she doesn’t sense any in his lungs, either. He seems more fatigued than Kai, though, and that’s a little disturbing to think about. Her Cole, even though he tends to just chill in the background, is a solid foundation that the others can lean on. She feels sick thinking about him in this position, unnervingly quiet and unresponsive. She feels even sicker as she looks back at Not-Kai and tries to not imagine her brother in his place.

A cold hand settles on her shoulder, and she finds herself looking back up to Zane. He doesn’t smile, but the way his face sets into a serious expression brings her some relief.

“Checking for injuries,” he announces, blinking his artificial blue eyes at the pair in front of them, “I’ve done full body scans for both of you. Alternative Kai, you are sustaining lacerations and cuts on your arms and legs. Alternative Cole, you are sustaining a concussion, along with several broken ribs, a twisted ankle, spiderweb cracks on your left forearm, both of your legs and your spine, and heavy bruising at the back of your head. This is an emergency.” He turns back to Wu and Nya, who’ve both paled rapidly as the list of injuries for Cole goes on. “We need to get him to a hospital, ASAP.”

“How-” Nya starts, swallowing back a gag, “How did he- What kind of  _ monster  _ would do this to him?”

“I don’t know!” Not-Kai’s voice shakes, “I didn’t thought- He was fine, I swear! But-”

“You need to wake him up, right now,” Wu cuts them off, “If he keeps sleeping with a concussion, he might never wake up.”

“I’m on it,” Not-Kai bites his lips before pinching Not-Cole’s nose.

It’s a childish thing to do, Nya notes, but nonetheless effective, as the other man takes in a deep, airless breath before gasping awake. His eyes blink open, and for the second time Nya’s stricken with how much they look like, but not quite, as her brother and friend. This Cole’s eyes are dark brown, but his left one is tinged green. Heterochromia, perhaps?

“K-Kai?” Not-Cole says, his words slurring together, “What happened?”

“It’s okay, Cole, I’ll explain to you later,” Not-Kai answers, “You got a concussion, buddy. Just gotta stay awake.”

“Again?” Not-Cole groans, and Not-Kai smiles, just a tad.

Something about the scene feels a little bittersweet, but she doesn’t want it to distract her. Turning back to Zane, she nods at him. He blinks back at her, realization dawning in the way his eyes brighten.

“Secret Ninja Force Emergency Technique: Civilian Rescue!” She announces, and both of them leap into action. Within seconds, Zane’s fashioned a stretcher out of nearby scrap materials. Nya on the other hand helps Kai move to the side as she and Zane gingerly move Cole onto the stretcher. Master Wu takes over and allows Kai to use him as a crutch, and together, all three of them carry the injured ninja back to their base. 

 

* * *

 

One thing to know about the Secret Ninja Force is that they are not allowed to treat their injuries in any public clinic or hospital in Ninjago. The main reason is to preserve their secret identities, but Nya knows it’s also because there’s hardly anywhere Lloyd Garmadon, son of evil warlord Lord Garmadon can go to seek help from. For the longest of time when they were just starting out, they had to try and treat their own cuts and bruises, take CPR classes, and learn first aid.

For more serious injuries, however, that’s when it gets tricky. Thanks to Lloyd’s connections, being a Master Builder, he can contact other Master Builders if there’s an emergency. They even built their own little infirmary bay in a corner of their secret base, mostly for wounds sustained in battle. Whenever Lloyd was available, he would call upon a doctor from another world, and hopefully their schedule would be free enough to come and treat the ninja.

Right now, Lloyd is currently turned off from most communications. Zane has tried to reach him through the main ninja communication line, but Lloyd’s com is off. It’s his day off with his parents, so the other ninja have promised to keep Ninjago safe while they’re gone. Gently settling Not-Cole down on one of the cots, Nya has half the mind to shoot Lloyd a quick text, hoping that there’s service on Garmadon’s island. Besides her, Wu is stroking his beard, eyes narrowed as he assess Not-Cole’s injuries.

“I am surprised he’s still alive with these wounds,” Wu says after a moment, “I myself am not a stranger to injuries, but this should’ve immobilized him a long time ago. We need to call in a professional. Only they can save his life.”

“But how?” Nya asks, busying herself with getting fresh towels and a medkit, “We don’t have any contacts, and none of us has sustained injuries like this before. The most serious one was when Lloyd dislocated his arm.”

“Hmm,” Wu hums, before turning to Zane, who’s currently ushering Kai to sit down on another cot, “Zane, do you know what to do?”

“I can download all necessary medical procedures right away,” Zane hesitates, “I’m afraid even with all the information I need, I lack coordination and experience in this field.”

“Then please try your best,” Wu turns towards the exit of their base, “I’m hoping that you can keep him stable until I can find help.”

“Aren’t you going to be here to help us, Master Wu?” Nya asks. She has never dealt with wounds this serious before, and he’s the only one with the most experience out of any of them.

“I’ll come back soon,” Wu picks up one of the communication devices they have and tosses it over to Nya, who catches it with ease, “But for now, contact the rest of the ninja and inform them about the situation. I have someone on my mind who might be able to help.”

With a final nod, he sprints out of the base, leaving them behind with two injured ninja and not enough medical knowledge between the four of them. That is until Zane downloads his doctor degree. Nya checks up on the com line first, making sure to call everyone who’s currently available. There’s no one on the line, but she trusts that the notification of an emergency call should alert them enough. Right now, they’re technically less needed than an actual doctor. Speaking of which...

Nya sighs, looking back at her friend, “You good, Zane?”

“Of course, please wait a moment as I gather all data.” Zane says, and with a click and a beep, his face morphs into the usual display of the download bar. Not-Kai, however, seems pretty freaked out by it. Nya notes that he already is uncomfortable with Zane’s robotic-ness, and now he blanches when Zane shows off his computer face displays.

“If you’re from another world-” Nya starts.

“Realm.”

“Find,  _ realm _ , is your Zane a nindroid?” Nya asks Not-Kai as she starts to wipe down Not-Cole’s face. “You seem pretty freaked out by our Zane.”

“Save that for later. We should undress him to check on his wounds.” Kai interrupts her, standing up from his cot. 

His gait is unsteady, but he quickly makes his way over to her and starts shucking off the outer layer of Cole’s gi. Ignoring her huff, he makes quick work of getting the wet fabric off his friend’s shoulder, coaxing Cole to arch up his back just a tad to loosen the belt around his waist. The mat black gi is taken off to reveal a mesh shirt underneath. Nya wouldn’t deny that she feels her face warm up at the sight of Cole’s muscular physique. While her Cole is already muscular for his age, she can only imagine how much bigger her friend can become in the future.

Once the mesh shirt is off, though, Nya’s admiration fades away, only to be replaced by horror and nausea. Kai keeps steady besides her, fingers dancing across Cole’s multitude of bruises. They’re ugly black and blue and yellow, blossoming around his ribs and disappearing behind his back. Cole’s eyes are fluttering shut again, but everytime that happens, Nya makes sure to slather slather a wet towel over his face, hoping the cold water will keep him awake.

Kai is quiet and grim, a far contrast against Nya’s usually cheerful brother. He quietly washes his hands with the antibacterial soap they have by the infirmary bay’s sink and continues to check on Cole’s injuries. She knows  _ her  _ Kai; he’s never been the type to look so old and weary. Once again Nya feels her heart break for this version of her brother. He’s effectively a stranger to her, but there’s something so familiar about him that makes her want to stick around. The attitude, the preference towards red, the  _ hair _ , they all remind her of her brother. She wonders if there’s another Nya on his team. She hopes she’s survived whatever happened to this Kai and Cole.

“I know this isn’t the greatest time to ask random questions,” Nya starts, tossing her blood and dirt soaked towel into a nearby laundry bin, “But what happened? Why are you guys even here? What’s the Typhoon of Creation?”

“Tornado of Creation,” Kai replies as he rummages through the medkid she’s offered to him, “It’s a long story. What’s important now is that Cole will stay alive.”

“I believe I can help with that,” Zane pipes up, and right after he finishes his sentence, his downloads finish with a cheerful  _ ding _ . 

Kai still jumps at the noise, though. He clutches at his chest and stares at Zane, grumbling curse words under his breath. That doesn’t bode too well for her, so she files that tidbit away for later and focuses back on Zane, who’s already started printing out instructions from his mouth. Gross, sure, but she’s used to it. She accepts them with a quick “thank you”, and both of them turn towards their patients. This should bide them enough time until Wu and the rest of the ninja arrive.


	2. Thunderstruck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's like trying to capture lightning in a bottle, the way they come so suddenly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, sorry for the delay! It's been three months, holy shit.
> 
> Well, some news in life: after over three months of busy work, I've finally graduated from college! Now life is only going to get more hectic for me. No worries, however. Even if I'm slow to update, I'll make sure to update. I have too much love for the stories I'm writing to abandon them halfway. Please continue to wait for me. 
> 
> Thank you for your patience, and please enjoy the story!

Contrary to popular belief, Jay actually enjoys hanging around at school after classes are over. Sure, there’s the constant threat of having to deal with cliques, especially cheerleaders and jocks who would take up most of Ninjago High’s gyms and outdoor fields. However, Jay’s always been quick to avoid confrontation, and with his friends by his side, there’s nothing he’s really afraid of.

Well, maybe Garmadon turning evil again and attacking the city, but right now Lloyd and his mum are with the guy, so it should be fine. Probably.

As for this moment, most of the students of Ninjago High have already left school grounds, except him, Kai, Cole, and a couple other stragglers. His parents called a little while ago with an offer to drive him home. He refused of course, wanting to stay back a little later with his friends with the promise to be home by dinner. He briefly looks up at the sky, brushing a strand of curly brown hair from his eyes. The sun is low enough now that it doesn’t hurt his eyes when he looks directly at it. The sky is orange and pink, blending together so smoothly it looks as if some artist has used a palette knife to smooth out the colors like one of those ASMR videos his mum likes to watch. He fiddles with his phone and turns on the selfie camera, trying to utilize the perfect lighting for a good shot. No luck, he thinks, frowning at the camera view. The bleachers he’s sitting on are too ugly with their cheap texture and rusted benches.

With a quick hop and a skip, he jumps off the bleachers and lands onto the ground with barely a sound. It seems like his ninja training has finally paid off. The old Jay would’ve stumbled trying to climb down and probably made a fool of himself. Nevertheless, he swings his orange scarf around his neck and poses for another selfie, moving to adjust the angle of the lighting. The sky is so clear tonight it would be a crime to not capture the moment. He pulls his scarf down a bit to expose more of his face. There, the lighting here is perfect. It captures the glow of the setting sun on his hair and face perfectly. He starts making faces, trying to find a good expression.

“Wassup, dude?”

“WAAAH-” Jay jumps, his fingers snapping the photo too quickly. Realizing his mistake, he checks for his picture, only to see it capture his blurred screaming face. “Wha- Hey!”

“Keep it. It really captured your essence.” A familiar voice drawls from behind him. Jay rolls his eyes and turns back to face his annoyance.

“No it didn’t. You ruined it. I had perfect lighting and everything,” Jay sniffs, his light brown eyes meeting Cole’s grey ones. The taller boy only grins back at him as he slings his backpack over his shoulder.

“You ready to head home?” Cole asks, shifting from one leg to another. A force of habit, Jay observes. For all the time that he knows his friend, Cole’s always leaning on one surface to another, sometimes even on people. Jay’s simply too short for him to have proper balance, and besides, Cole would just topple the smaller boy over if he ever leans on him.

“I guess,” Jay adjusts the scarf around his neck, “Do you know where Kai is? I was wondering if we can all walk together on the way back.”

“Last time I checked, he’s still using the gym showers,” Cole shrugs, almost sleepily. Today, all three of them have stayed behind at school for their extracurriculars: Kai for his kendo club, Jay for his robotics club, and Cole for what he claims to be music appreciation club. Jay doesn’t think that club is real, but Cole likes to stick around with his friends, so he doesn’t complain.

“Trying to do his hair?”

“Yup,” Cole leans against one of the railings on the bleachers.

“I wish it didn’t take so long for him to do it each time,” Jay huffs, “I think even Nya doesn’t bother doing her hair just as much, and it already looks better than his, to be honest.”

“You think Nya looks good in anything.”

“She does!” Jay tries to fight the furious blush on his face, “Uh- I mean, it’s not like I notice everything she does, o-or chooses to wear-”

“Hey, aren’t those Garmadork’s  _ lackeys _ ?” A shrill voice exclaims from the side, “Are they  _ flirting  _ with each other?  _ Ewww  _ that’s so gross!”

Jay splutters as Cole rolls his eyes. He turns his head towards the speaker to see a group of cheerleaders coming up towards them, with, dammit,  _ Chen _ , leading them. Jay squeaks and ducks behind Cole, not wanting to confront them. It’s not like he fears them, but they always make fun of him and his friends, and they definitely know that he’s more emotionally pliable compared to people like Cole or Nya or Zane. Sometimes it’s easier to ignore them, but sometimes he goes to bed with echoes of their obnoxious voices in his ears and wonders if he could’ve done something better than hiding.

Today is definitely not that day.

“Back off, Chen,” Cole steps in front of Jay protectively, “I thought you’re done braiding each other’s hair hours ago. Added a thousand more steps to your routine?”

One of the cheerleaders gasps, scandalized, but Chen just scoffs, “Better than seeing you freaks loiter around our school. Go make out with your boyfriend somewhere else, Brookstone.”

“He’s not my boyfriend-”

“I’m not his boyfriend-”

“I like girls!” Jay exclaims, before hiding back behind Cole.

“Pssh yeah, like no girls will ever like you back,” one of the cheerleaders snickers, flipping her pigtail braids over her shoulder, “You’re literally hiding behind your musclehead of a friend over here.”

“What a wimp,” another one agrees, grinning at Jay maliciously, “Everybody at school knows you’re crushing on Nya Smith. Everybody also knows you’re too much of a coward to even confess.”

“Besides, it’s not like you’re even in her league. Even if she’s a brute, at least she has dignity, unlike  _ you _ ,” Chen adds, delivering the finishing blow to his heart. 

This, this is why he was so afraid of school for the longest of times. This is why it took over a year for him to warm up to Lloyd and his friends, because he was afraid of being ostracized by the rest of the school. There’s fear, humiliation, shame, all swirling in his head and plummeting down to the pit of his stomach like parachutes full of bombs. He wants to cry a little bit, but not really. He’s a ninja. He serves to protect assholes like these guys everyday. 

But sometimes it gets a little frustrating.

“Aww, is the widdle baby gonna cwy?” Chen sneers, and he feels his face contorts into something more akin of rage.

“I said, fuck off, Chen.”

And then there’s Cole, who’s always there for him. The taller boy slips his headphones off his neck, which is, woah, he  _ never  _ does that unless he’s really angry. Chen’s stupid smirk slides off his face, and the giggling gaggle of girls behind him also goes quiet. Jay can’t see Cole’s expression from behind his back, but when Cole sets his headphones onto one of the benches and advances forward to where the cheerleaders are standing, Jay can see the fear in their eyes.

“F-Fuck you, Brookstone,” Chen steps back, his little clique now hiding behind him, “And just you watch, Walker. You and the rest of Garmadork’s lackeys are never welcomed here.”

“Fuck.  _ Off _ .”

“Fine! Geez, no need to get violent!” Chen throws his hands in the air and walks backwards away from them. “Should’ve known Brookstone is just as a brute as the rest of your gang.”

Cole just cracks his knuckles, and within less than a minute the cheerleaders all tuck tail and run to wherever they came from, which is probably their locker rooms. On the other side of the tracks, Kai emerges, freshly showered and groomed. He gives both Jay and Cole a questioning glance when one of the cheerleaders flips him off.

“I thought I’d be the one picking fights,” Kai says as he approaches them, wearing his usual red jacket with a gym bag slung over his shoulders. Cole just shrugs at him and puts his headphones back around his neck.

“They made fun of Jay.”

“What? Really?” Kai frowns, turning to Jay, who also shrugs.

“Come on guys, it’s no big deal,” he stutters, wringing his scarf nervously, “I-I mean, they’re the type to pick on people they think are lesser than them.”

“You’re not lesser than them, you know that, right?” Kai raises an eyebrow, and Jay finds himself flushing at his friend’s heated stare.

“I do. It’s just hard sometimes.”

“You gotta stand up for yourself more. You’re a member of the secret ninja force, dude,” Kai grabs at his shoulders and shakes them, “You’re the  _ lightning ninja _ . Don’t let some asshole cheerleader make fun of you.”

“I know, I know!” Jay squirms out of Kai’s grip, adjusting the backpack on his shoulders, “Can we go now? I don’t wanna miss dinner with my parents.”

“Oh, yeah, sorry for the wait,” Kai gestures towards his ridiculous haircut, “Takes time to upkeep, you know?”

“Of course,” Jay sighs. He can’t help but smile at that, though. “Cole? You coming?”

There’s no answer. Jay looks towards his friend questioningly, only to see him with his eyes wide open and mouth agape, looking towards the sky. “Cole?”

“Hey man, what are you looking at-” Kai turns towards the direction of Cole’s gaze, only to be stricken dumb with the same sight. Whatever it is, it clearly either surprises or disturbs them.

Curious, Jay travels his gaze towards the pink sky and immediately feels his jaw drop at the sight before them. In the far distance towards Ninjago City’s coasts, there’s a rip in the sky. It seems so small from where they’re standing, but judging from the distance, it should be massive up close. The light it emits is like how metal would shower out sparks under a grinding gear, but even more intense. He would even say it looks rather breathtaking, bathed in the golden glow of the sun and itself as clouds swirl around it. But holy fuck, there’s a  _ rip in the sky _ .

“Are you guys seeing what I’m seeing?” Kai asks, and Jay can’t even bother to look at him understand the shock underlying his tone.

“Y-Yeah,” Jay answers, almost swallowing his tongue in process.

“My question is,” Cole speaks up finally, “Is this a Garmadon thing? And why isn’t the city sounding the Garmadon alarms?”

Jay doesn’t even notice it until Cole points it out, but it’s true. He strays his gaze away from the scene in front of him to survey the school. All the students are gone by now, leaving the school grounds empty of people. The city is at its usual level of noise; there’s no sound of mass panic at all, as if the rest of the world is oblivious to this phenomenon.

“This isn’t his usual MO, if this is Garmadon,” he turns back to his friends, feeling fear and uncertainty gripping his heart, “What do we do now?”

Just as he says that, there’s a muffled thunderous crack, and he looks up just in time to see the rift explodes into three sparking projectiles before imploding upon itself. While the sound is lessened thanks to the distance, he can still feel the force of the shockwave blowing his hair back right where he’s standing. He hears Kai cussing and fussing with his hair by his side, but all he can focus on is the sudden disappearance of the rift while three projectiles are shot into three different directions.

And one of them is heading towards them.

“Uh, guys?” Cole’s firm hand grasps his shoulders and starts steering him away from the direction of the projectile, “We might wanna run.”

With his unnatural strength, Cole’s grip on Jay’s shoulder is almost bruising as he yanks both him and Kai to take cover. The furthest they can go is behind the bleachers where the slightly more sturdy foundations might offer better shelter and shield than being out in the open. Jay can hear his heart thundering a mile a minute in his chest, glancing furtively towards the direction of the main school building. He doesn’t know if they’ll be able to make it in time to the lockers’ escape hatches.

The whistling noise that the projectile carries becomes louder by the second. Kai’s already has his head covered, ready to duck and run if necessary. He finds himself crouching lower towards the ground, too, finally applying all those emergency safety lessons he learned in class to good use. Cole however, is not in any protective positions. He stands tall and open, ear tilted towards the sky as if he’s trying to listen for something. His usually lazy expression is now pinched, his thick brows furrowing as he takes a step, then another, until he turns the corner of the bleachers.

Jay’s first instinct is to grab onto his waist and try to tug him back to the safe zone behind the bleachers. Cole lets out an oomph as he does so, but when he doesn’t follow him, Jay can feel the panic grip his heart ever so tighter.

“We gotta get in contact with the others,” Jay babbles, wrapping his fingers around Cole’s belt loop, “But I want  _ you  _ to be alive by then.”

“Cole, what are you doing, are you crazy?” Kai exclaims on his side, “This place’s about to blow. We gotta protect our asses first if we wanna protect other people.”

“Shush,” Cole gestures an arm at them, “I’m trying to listen.”

“For what?!” Jay cries, “There’s no emergency alarm! Nobody’s reacting except for us!”

“No, not the alarms,” Cole shakes his head, squinting at the golden projectile that’s coming towards them, “But the noise. It sounds… It sounds like people screaming?”

“What?” Jay blinks, momentarily distracted enough for Cole to slip out of his grip.

“Kai, gimme a boost,” Cole says, already climbing one of the bleacher beams, “I should be able to see what’s up from the top.”

“Hold on, man,” Kai places a hand on Cole’s arm. Jay’s hoping to hear him refuse, but Kai, of course, just points at himself and smirks. “Boost me.”

“W-Wait-” Jay starts, but without listening to him, Cole grabs Kai’s lower body and quickly boosts, more like throws, him up high enough for him to grab the top bar of the bleachers.

“See anything?” Cole asks from below as Kai climbs up to the top of the bleachers. The brunette shades his eyes with a hand and seems to squint, but from where Jay’s standing he can’t see much else.

“Holy shit, Cole!” Kai gasps just seconds later, “You’re right! Those are people! And they’re falling!” He peers down from where he’s standing, “We need to catch them, or, or do something! Anything! At this speed they’re gonna die when they hit the ground!”

“Quick, Jay, the supply closet,” Cole turns to him, tired eyes ablaze with determination, “I know there’s a trampoline there that they keep for gym. Grab the biggest one you can get.”

“Uh- sure,” Jay starts, not really understanding what’s going on. One glance from Cole though and he’s running towards the closet at the far corner of the school grounds.

Before he can reach it, though, the temperature around him suddenly drops. It was a cool, breezy night before, but now it feels as if somebody has just stuck the entire globe into the freezer. Jay gasps, watching his breath comes out in a plume of smoke as Kai and Cole both shout their exclamations behind him. He turns back around to see ice crawling on the coarse surface of the track field, and above, the “projectile” blasting more ice onto the ground to create what seems to be a makeshift slide. With the oppositional force of the ice blasting upwards, the people who are falling slow down in speed.

He only knows one person who can do ice like that.

“No way,” Jay shakes his head, not trusting his eyes when two figures land on top of the ice slide and roll down the slippery surface, “No way, that can’t be.”

Thankfully, it seems like he’s not hallucinating either, as he approaches Cole and Kai they seem to have similar reactions. 

“Is… Is that Zane?” Kai asks, scratching his head, “I thought he’s training with Nya right now.”

“Who’s the person with him?” Cole squints his eyes.

The two figures are still sliding down the slippery slope, one clad in white with a haircut like Zane’s, but there are glints of silver where his face should be. Maybe a mask? Another one is in blue, similar to Jay’s uniform, but from here he can’t make out much else.

Why did Zane and the other person fly out of a flipping  _ portal _ ?

Before he can even think of what to do next, Kai’s already hopping down the bleachers towards the two “strangers”. Jay, unwilling to get left behind, quickly follows his pace, passing a dumbfounded looking Cole towards the fallen people.

“H-Hey! You! Do you guys need help?” Jay asks, slowing down his jog as he dodges melting patches of ice.

“Zane? Is that you, buddy?” Kai waves at the figure in white, “Did you just get fired out of Garmadon’s volcano or something?”

There’s no response at first, the people too busy groaning and coughing from both debris and lingering ice particles. Then, the figure in blue, whom Jay recognizes to have his same haircut, only auburn in color, looks up.

All of them freeze.

Bright blue locks eyes with light brown, and Jay feels his shoulders go slack enough for his backpack to slide right off. It’s like looking at a mirror, only if the mirror shows a bootleg version of yourself. Maybe it’s some sort of different adaptation; Jay’s the novel to this stranger’s comic book.

His doppelganger is also staring straight at him, his stance defensive and his body positioned to favor an injured arm. Jay watches as the other him swivel his head around and sees the confusion blooming in his face as he studies his surroundings. When his eyes fall onto Cole and Kai, however, the apprehension lining his face disappears, and he starts laughing. No,  _ guffawing _ .

“Oh, oh my FSM. This is hi-hi-hilarious!” The older Jay hiccups, clutching at his stomach as he points towards the direction of Jay and his friends, “Zane! Zane, you gotta see this! Look at these oni trying to disguise as me, Cole, and Kai! We look like  _ dorks _ !”

“Hey!” Kai snaps, crossing his arms. It only serves to make older Jay laugh even louder, to the point he can see tears streaming down his eyes.

“Matching red jacket and pants?” Older Jay wipes his eyes, “Oh man, you didn’t even get the voices right. You suck at human fashion, huh, oni?”

“W-What do you mean?” Jay speaks up finally, squeaking a little when older Jay stares at him in what seems to be shock, “I’m human! All of us are. If anything, _ you guys _ are Garmadon’s secret clones of us, probably sent here to destroy Ninjago City!”

“Ninjago City’s already destroyed, kid!” Older Jay flaps his left arm dismissively before yelping in pain. He cradles his arm and frowns at it, clearly upset for jostling his own injury. “Where are we, anyway? I thought we should still be at the monastery with the others.”

“According to my calculations,” a soothing, but robotic voice speaks up, “We’re nowhere near where we were before. In fact, this is the same feeling I had when we were stuck in the Realm of Oni and Dragons.”

“Oh, great, so the Tornado of Creation just freakin’ opened up a portal and dumped us here?” Older Jay throws his hands in the air, “Now what do we do? We don’t have Mystake or Wu, or even the Firstbourne to help us! We’re stuck here with these midgets who look like our friends, too! Eugh, and they’re in  _ school _ .”

“Now, now, Jay,” the figure in white soothes his friend, and Jay feels himself go a little faint when he sees “Zane” in full for the first time.

The metallic sheen he’s seen before isn’t part of Zane’s armor. In fact, it’s part of Zane  _ himself _ . It’s nothing short of grotesque to gaze upon what could very much be the  _ robotic skeleton _ underneath Zane’s synthetic skin, and before he can even control himself, he feels the acid in his stomach rises up and gags on the burn of bile. Beside him, Kai and Cole are also making worried, if not disgusted or even scared noises at the sight of a fully robotic and metallic Zane. It’s something he never thought he would see in his lifetime, but as he swallows around the vomit in his throat, he catches Zane’s crestfallen expression. The bitter acidic taste in his mouth doesn’t bother him anymore, but the sudden guilt that settles heavily in his stomach does.

“Oh, it seems that I’m a rather unusual sight around here,” metal Zane says, much to older Jay’s chagrin.

“Whatever, dude! If these guys as you said are from another realm, you’re weird to them anyway,” older Jay pats metal Zane’s shoulder, “Besides, when I first saw you like this, I was more than happy to see you again. These kids don’t know the heck of it.”

“Our Zane’s a nindroid, too,” Cole says, his voice sounding a little strained, “But he has skin… I think.”

“Y-yeah! Don’t worry!” Jay pipes up nervously, not wanting to make anyone feel upset, “Even if you guys are clones, you’re definitely not as monstrous looking as Garmadon or anything.”

“Apparently he was bitten by a snake who was bitten by a spider,” Kai chimes in with some humor.

The two “clones” seems pretty startled at that fact. Older Jay definitely seems a little bit more miffed than before, evident in the way he starts pacing around between patches of melting ice.

“Okay, wait, hold on,” he runs his good hand through messy curls of hair, “If the Tornado of Creation works, shouldn’t Garmadon and sensei Wu be here, too? Or is it just us and the rest of the team are back home?”

“I don’t know, Jay,” metal Zane replies. He’s definitely more expressive in ways that Jay’s Zane isn’t. Even when he physically seems more robotic, there’s fluidness in the way he moves and conveys his feelings. For a nindroid, he’s surprisingly human.

“Argh, I wish there was a way for us to contact the others. We don’t even have the Bounty with us anymore,” older Jay grumbles, before his eyes land back on Kai, “You! Tiny Kai! Do you guys have any means to travel through different realms around here? Do you even know what a realm is? Granted you don’t seem to know what oni is and Zane is like a lie detector so you were probably speaking the truth.”

“I’m not really a lie detector, Jay,” metal Zane sighs, “I’m a nindroid who has mastery of the sixth sense.”

“Isn’t that kind of what it is?”

“Not really, no.”

“All my life, I’ve been lied to.”

“I’m incapable of telling lies. You know this, Jay.”

“It’s a joke, Zane,” older Jay crosses his arms.

Kai, who’s been addressed to and hasn’t been able to get a word in with the banter between the duo finally gives out a frustrated, “Hey!”

As if they’re startled from a deep conversation, the two “clones” turn back to Kai quizzically. Jay has to hide a giggle at their synchronicity. When Zane’s eerie blue eyes turn towards him, he actually does hide with a little squeak behind Cole’s back.

“Okay, if you guys are done yammering, my team and I also have a Bounty,” Kai starts, arms raised in a manner that reminds Jay of that one dinosaur movie they watched together a few weeks back. Tame, non-aggressive, he remembers.

“Oh great! Please take us there immediately! If you have a Wu, that would be great, too!” Older Jay grins, advancing towards their group with metal Zane quickly following him.

As they approach, Jay feels as though there’s an invisible threshold being crossed. From a distance of at least five meters away to less than two, their presence makes electricity prickle against Jay’s skin. By the ever subtle tensing of Cole’s muscles to Kai’s strained expression, they can sense it, too. These two are  _ wrong _ . Wrong in the way that aliens are. They’re not from here.

“Woah, there uh, Big Jay,” Kai raises his hands again in a more defensive pose, “How would we know that  _ you guys _ aren’t our evil doppelgangers from another dimension or something? You mentioned realms, right? We don’t have those here. Worlds, we do.”

“Ugh, how would  _ we  _ know if you guys aren’t evil, either?” Older Jay groans rather dramatically, “We’re not clones, either. I don’t think anybody can ever clone a person like me. I’m too good.”

“Also nobody would ever clone more of you because just one is loud enough,” Metal Zane hides his smile behind his hand.

“Hey!”

“Alright, alright,” Cole cuts in, clearly uncomfortable at how loud this version of Jay is, “I don’t think you guys are evil. Are we done now?”

“And this is why Cole’s my best friend in all realms,” older Jay grins triumphantly.

Jay feels his face warm at the blatant expression of affection. He peeks up at Cole only to see his friend blinking rapidly at older Jay with pinking ears.

“Uh, thanks?” Cole rubs his arm, not knowing what else to say.

“He’s really extroverted, isn’t he?” Jay asks, his voice barely audible to Cole from how close they’re standing together.

“Yeah,” Cole exhales, “A little overwhelming, to be honest.”

“Well, I guess since we’ve established that none of us are evil here, let me introduce myself!” Older Jay’s loud voice cuts through their whispers. He puts his good hand out towards Jay. “Hi, smaller me, the name’s Jay Walker, Master of Lightning.”

“Hi,” Jay clasps his hand against older Jay’s and looks up at him. He wonders when he would hit his growth spurt, but to be honest, this Jay seems to still be pretty small. The hand in his palm is rough, calloused in ways Jay can only assume gained through combat experience. “I’m also Jay Walker, and I guess… Master of Lightning, too? I’m still working on it.”

“No worries,” older Jay grins, “You’re gonna be fine.”

“Really?”

“Maybe,” older Jay laughs, and Jay can’t tell if he was joking or not.

As older Jay goes down the line to introduce himself to Kai and Cole, metal Zane steps up and extends his hand. Up close, he’s not as frightening as Jay thought. The metallic shine makes him look a little uncanny, but past that, he still looks like Zane. The metal plating is well welded and the kindness in his eyes is unmistakable. Jay takes his hand this time with less hesitation.

“Zane Julien, Master of Ice,” metal Zane smiles at him, “Though I believe you already know that already. It’s nice to meet you, Jay.”

“Haha, yeah,” Jay stammers, feeling the unnatural hardness of metal underneath Zane’s gloved hand, “I’m sorry I kind of freaked out on you like that.”

“It’s alright,” metal Zane tilts his head, “I should be able to disguise myself once my system cools down properly.”

“You’re already in your ninja gi. You can just pull up your mask, right?”

“That’s not what I meant, but sure, I can do that, too,” Zane answers cryptically, before turning back to his Jay, who’s already blabbering away at Kai about the minute differences between him and his alternate version. “Jay, we should get going soon. Let’s not intrude upon this property any longer.”

“Right, you guys are still in school, right?” Older Jay snaps his fingers.

“Uh, not really,” Kai answers, gesturing at his gym bag, “We just stayed behind ‘cuz we have club stuff to do…”

“We were thinking of going home, but you guys arrived,” Jay sighs, picking up his own backpack which has previously dropped onto the ground before, “I guess I’ll have to text my parents I won’t be home for dinner.”

“What about your parents, Kai, Cole?” Metal Zane asks innocently, “Are you all living separately?”

“My sis and I live together, yeah,” Kai shrugs, “Wu’s technically our legal guardian, ‘cuz we’re both orphans.”

“My dad doesn’t care,” Cole adjusts his headphones, “He knows I can handle myself, as long as I let him know I’ll be staying over at a friend’s place.”

“Woah, that’s so strange,” older Jay looks between them, “For us, we all share a living space in our monastery.”

“You guys get to have a monastery?” Jay asks, a little envious that they get to live together and hang out all the time.

“Well, yeah?” Older Jay raises an eyebrow, “I think it makes sense. We’re a team, after all.”

“That’s like, slumber party,  _ always _ ,” Kai gasps, face brightening at the idea.

“Wait until you accidentally put your red clothes in the same wash as Zane’s gi, and it’s the opposite.”

“ _ Jay _ .” 

“It was really funny, alright? The pink ninja!”

As their group banters on, Jay’s distracted by a sudden buzzing inside his backpack. It’s probably his parents calling him again to check on him, Jay rolls his eyes. He opens the backpack to rummage around in it, looking for his phone. When he pulls it out, the phone remains off, but the buzzing continues on inside his backpack. There’s only one thing he knows that can do that besides his phone, he realizes with an ounce of dread.

At the bottom of his backpack, his com vibrates on, flashing red and bright in between all his other knick knacks. Today’s supposed to be a break day for all of them, but…

“Uh, guys? We gotta go. Now,” Jay picks up the com and watches the red light flash between his fingers, “There’s an emergency at base.”

The chatter behind him stops, and he feels Cole’s hand on his shoulder, firm but gentle. An anchor that keeps him from immediately flipping out.

“Didn’t Nya say she was gonna do some training with Zane today?” Cole asks, “Back at base?”

“Y-yeah,” Jay sucks in a breath and tries to push away the worst case scenarios he’s conjuring in his head, “Hope it’s not anything too bad.”

The com is a little thing, easy to fit into their ear and under their ninja hoods during battle. However, they’ve made sure the com should 1) match the color to each ninja, 2) have emergency light signals and vibration, and 3) be able to be put on speaker in case of an emergency, which is exactly what Jay switches it to. The emergency speakerphone is tiny, but its range of projection is wide enough for at most three people to talk at the same time. When Jay turns it on, it lets out long, slow beeps, signifying it connecting to other coms on the same line.

After a minute or so, the line crackles on, and a cheerful and robotic voice greets them. “Hello! This is the Secret Ninja Force communication line!”

“Zane!” Jay exclaims, already soothed by his friend’s voice. In front of him, older Jay and metal Zane exchange bewildered looks.

“Jay! I’m glad we’ve managed to reach you,” the line crackles for a bit, and he can hear Nya’s feminine tone talking to Zane in the background, “Yes, yes, I understand. Master Wu has asked for all ninja to be back to base ASAP. We’re currently housing two foreign visitors,” here, the entire team’s eyes are on the other Jay and Zane, “It’s kind of an emergency.”

There’s some more crackling, and they hear a foreign male voice talking back and forth with Nya. There’s a rustle, as if the device is switched between hands, before Nya’s voice comes online.

“Did you guys see the explosion in the sky? With the golden lights and everything?” She asks, straight to the point as always.

“Yeah, and we got some visitors here with us, too,” Kai answers, visibly relieved to hear Nya alive and healthy.

“Which ones?” The rustling noise drags on, and they all hear Nya snap, “ _ Kai _ , I need you to stop moving for goodness sake. Your bandages are falling off!”

Okay, Jay thinks to himself rather faintly. If these people are truly who they claim to be, ie, from another dimension and not evil clones who’re here to replace the ninja team, then he’d be sorta okay with it. But there’s more of them, and he doesn’t know if he can handle this for long.

“Kai?” Metal Zane asks, perking up. Besides him, older Jay lets out a huge sigh of relief. His Kai on the other hand blinks a couple times in confusion, and Jay relates to him so hard right now.

“Nya, we have a Jay and a Zane here,” Cole answers for them, “Do you have a Kai over there with you?”

“Yes, and a Cole, too,” Nya’s voice grows heavy, and Jay doesn’t know if it’s out of frustration or worry, “They’re both injured. I’m trying my best here and Zane’s doing great with treating them both. I still need you guys to come back, though.”

“We’re on our way,” Kai replies. Jay finds himself nodding along.

“I’ll see you in a bit, Nya,” Jay pipes up, not wanting to, what…? Not be the last one who has a word in with her? Worrying her?

“I’ll see you, Jay,” Nya replies. He must’ve been imagining the fondness in her voice, because right after that the line fizzles and goes dead. Even though that might’ve been a fluke, having her address him directly like that sends warm tingles up his cheeks.

When he turns towards the direction of the main school building after stuffing the com into his pocket, his friends have already started leading metal Zane back to the locker hall inside. He doesn’t miss the way his older self (not really, from another world) lingers and the way he looks at Jay. There’s humor in his eyes and something else he can’t quite catch. Like there’s a little secret that the older Jay knows that Jay himself doesn’t.

“What?” He grumbles, stepping in line with older Jay.

“You like her,” older Jay grins, and Jay feels his face heat under the other’s teasing tone.

“I-I mean, who  _ wouldn’t _ ?” Jay asks, tugging at the scarf around his neck, “She’s so strong and pretty. She always knows what to say and she’s also super funny. The way she smiles is just...,” Jay sighs, feeling butterflies bloom in his gut at the thought, ”She’s way out of my league.”

He doesn’t expect much of a reply from older Jay, but a punch to the shoulder is definitely surprising. He yelps, rubbing at the sore spot, “Hey! What gives?!”

“Trust me, kid,” older Jay’s smile only gets wider, “You got to give yourself more credit. Granted, I don’t know you as well, but you’re me, so if there’s an advice I could give to my younger self, it’s this.”

Here, they pause just right at the entrance of the hall. His counterpart’s bright blue eyes seem to pierce through him, the same way lightning would strike down a tree. The overwhelming sensation starts again, and despite his ruffled appearance, suddenly older Jay seems so much more world weary. The halo of sunset that surrounds him only makes him so much less real, but the static around him grounds him at the same time.

“Yes?” Jay can’t help but ask, not daring to break eye contact with him.

“You’re stronger than you believe. Even when you’re scared, you’re still strong,” his counterpart says, “You just gotta keep pushing forward, even when you’re scared. Even when it hurts. Talk to her. Get to know her. Be her friend first and foremost. Know that things may not work out all the time. Know when to back down. If things turn out right, then...”

“Then?”

Here, older Jay pulls out a medallion, previously tucked away under his gi, pressed against his heart. It seems to be half of a yin-yang symbol with an intricate design of a dragon on it. He wipes at it and smiles softly, fondly.

“You’ll be able to win her heart.”


End file.
